The mountain forest was eerie and desolate, with temperatures several degrees lower than the city. The air that entered my lungs felt cold and sharp.
"Can we reach Tie Ningxiang?"
"She seems to have run into trouble at Wolfhead Ravine, but Captain Tie said we don't need to worry. She can handle it herself."
I instinctively pulled out a cigarette and put it in my mouth. "Communication isn't completely cut off, which means things haven't reached the worst point yet."
Just as I was about to light it, one of the officers accompanying me stopped me.
"No open flames in the forest. Are you here to help or make things worse?"
The one who spoke was Wu Meng, the deputy captain of the Criminal Investigation Division. He was leading the second wave of reinforcements.
He had a point, so I complied. However, looking at these reinforcements, I felt no sense of confidence.
Hunting for Lu Xing in the vast mountains was like searching for a needle in a haystack—nearly impossible.
Taking out my phone, I made a precautionary call to Liu Blindman.
"Old Liu, leave your fortune-telling stall for now. Bring Bai and head to Pinewood Cemetery. It's urgent, so move quickly."
Leaving two officers at the mountain's base, I followed Wu Meng and seven other officers into the mountains.
"We'll split into two teams. Zhao Bin, Old Wei, and Tie's junior, you three head to Wolfhead Ravine for reinforcements. I'll lead the others up the mountain from the north side."
"That's not a good idea. We should stick together and regroup with Tie Ningxiang first," I suggested. It wasn't to challenge Wu Meng; the mountain was treacherous, and the four of them, unfamiliar with the terrain, could easily run into trouble.
"Do as I say. If you have any objections, keep them to yourself," Wu Meng shot back. He wasn't one to listen to anyone except Tie Ningxiang.
Under different circumstances, I might've enjoyed seeing him suffer, but this was no ordinary situation. Lu Xing already had five lives on his hands. He was extremely dangerous.
"The northern path is the shady side of the mountain, perpetually without sunlight. Though it's a shortcut, I'm worried you might encounter... unpleasant things."
"Unpleasant things? Wolves? Snakes? Bears? If you're scared, you can go back. We're here to catch a fugitive, not for a leisurely hike," Wu Meng retorted, leading his team and the two police dogs into the mist.
After they left, Old Wei patted me on the arm. "Don't take it to heart. Wu Meng's blunt, but he means well."
Old Wei, in his forties and nearing retirement, added, "The northern route is dangerous, which is why Wu Meng took the lead. Splitting us up is his way of looking out for us."
"I understand, but now's not the time for bravado," I sighed. Together with Zhao Bin and Old Wei, I began the trek toward Wolfhead Ravine, two kilometers away.
The forest grew denser, the path more challenging. After about thirty minutes, a heavy fog rolled in, reducing visibility to a mere ten meters.
"Stay close. Don't get lost," Old Wei said, leading the way with the map in hand.
Suddenly, Zhao Bin, at the back of our group, stopped.
"What's wrong?"
His pale face was devoid of color as he fiddled with his police radio. "Signal's down. We've lost contact with Captain Tie."
"No signal?" Deep in the mountains, losing communication was a serious problem. Old Wei stopped too.
"Don't panic. It might just be the fog. Once it clears, we'll reconnect," I said, trying to remain optimistic.
"So what now?"
"We keep moving. We have to find her today," I replied, staring at the narrowing mountain path ahead.
Tie Ningxiang was Lu Xing's target, and she'd likely already been singled out. As for the northern team, they were walking the shadowy path of the mountain and might be in peril themselves. Right now, the only ones who could help Tie Ningxiang were the three of us.
"She left with the Pinewood Cemetery caretaker. He knows the area better than we do," Old Wei offered as consolation.
I shook my head. "But have you considered another possibility?"
"What possibility?"
"What if the caretaker is an accomplice?"
I always approached the world with suspicion—a professional hazard from hosting the Hell Show.
"That's unlikely."
"Either way, we need to speed up and prepare to operate alone," I urged. This was no ordinary fugitive hunt. Pinewood Cemetery was surrounded by abandoned land. When it was built, residents within miles were relocated under the reasoning that "the living shouldn't compete for space with the dead."
Without local guides and with our equipment failing, if all this was part of Lu Xing's plan, then he was terrifyingly cunning.
After another thirty minutes, the fog only thickened. The three of us struggled through the dense forest, the ground layered with rotting pine needles. Visibility dropped to just a few meters.
"Shouldn't we have arrived by now? Two kilometers shouldn't take this long," Zhao Bin said.
Using a knife, Old Wei carved a star into a tree trunk and smiled wryly. "The map's useless, but our general direction should still be right."
"The fog is heavy with dampness. We're heading deeper into the shady side of the mountain," I observed. With Wu Meng taking the police dogs, getting lost was almost inevitable.
I motioned for them to lift me up. "Help me climb a tree and take a look."
Finding a sturdy tree, I climbed to the top, but the fog stretched endlessly.
"Forget the map. Let's reach the summit first and get our bearings," I said. Against nature's might, humans were insignificant.
After much effort, we finally reached the summit, only to realize we'd veered off course thirty minutes earlier.
"I've been following the map, and we walked in a straight line…" Old Wei muttered, recalibrating our path.
"This time for sure."
"It's not that simple," I said grimly. "This fog came at just the wrong time—right when we entered the forest. Something's not right."
A growing unease filled me. I felt as though something in the fog was watching us, and we were already in its sights.
"Old Wei, Zhao Bin, let's regroup with Tie Ningxiang immediately. If we delay, we'll all be trapped here."
Descending the mountain, Zhao Bin led while Old Wei brought up the rear.
About halfway down, I suddenly felt hands rest on my shoulders.
"Old Wei?" I asked, assuming he was exhausted from the trek.
At first, I didn't think much of it. But as we walked, the weight on my shoulders grew heavier. "Is he feeling unwell?"
I slowed down and reached up to pat the hand on my shoulder. "Old Wei, you alright?"
But what my fingers touched wasn't smooth skin—it was coarse fur.
"What the…" Turning my head slightly, I froze.
Those weren't hands on my shoulders. They were animal paws!
"Wolf on my shoulders!" As a child, I'd heard stories from the elders. Sometimes, people walking at night would feel wolves resting their paws on them. These clever beasts mimicked humans, but the moment you turned around, they'd bite your throat.
The Pinewood Cemetery was once a mass graveyard. Back in the day, starving wolves dug up fresh corpses, consuming them and absorbing their malevolent energy. These wolves were no ordinary animals—they were sinister.
"Does this mean Old Wei's already been attacked?"
Terrified, I kept my eyes forward as Zhao Bin's silhouette grew fainter in the fog.
"What should I do?" Without a weapon and unable to shout for help, I knew any sudden move could result in the wolf biting my neck.
The only option was to rely on myself. I slowed my breathing and moved toward a sturdy pine tree.
As soon as my shoulder brushed against the bark, I suddenly leaned right and braced myself!
Pinned against the tree with my left side, the wolf would have no choice but to attack from the right.
The stench of decay filled the air. In the corner of my eye, I saw the glint of sharp teeth closing in.